The Times of Israel reported over the weekend that Israeli Prime Minister has dispatched researchers to study part of the international border between Belgium and the Netherlands, which includes a “highly complex,” non-linear border, “under which citizens of one country live in enclaves within the other, as a possible precedent to enable Jewish settlers in the West Bank to remain under Israeli rule inside a future Palestinian state.”
On the one hand, this is good news. Studying foreign examples is a good way to learn from the mistakes and successes of other countries. On the other hand, the Palestinians are not Belgians. We are not talking about a highly civilized society with a taste for beer and bureaucracy. And both the Belgians and Dutch were easily overrun by the Germans–something to consider as Israel contemplates the bigger regional picture.